Mercosur Admits Venezuela in First Enlargement

Venezuela has become a full member of Mercosur at a summit of the South American regional trading bloc.

Host country Brazil hailed Venezuela's entry, which marked the group's first enlargement since Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay founded it in 1991, international media reported.

Venezuelan PresidentHugo Chavez did not attend the summit having just returned home from Cuba after his latest cancer-related medical treatment.

Also at the summit, Brazilian PresidentDilma Rousseff hailed the decision by Bolivia, a Mercosur associate member along with Ecuador, to take the first step toward full membership.

Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa said his country would decide early next year on whether to seek full membership amid concern about the impact integration might have on its dollar-based economy.

With the admission of Venezuela, which boasts the world's largest proven oil reserves, the bloc is now an energy and agricultural giant with a GDP of USD 3.3 T (83% of South America's total) and a population of 275 million.

Bolivia and Ecuador would boost Mercosur's population to nearly 300 million.

Uruguayan President Jose Mujica meanwhile said the summit would mull whether to jumpstart stalled negotiations on a free trade agreement with the European Union.

Negotiations have stumbled over differences on agriculture - notably Europe's subsidies to its farmers, which undermine South America's efforts to sell its own products.

Argentine President Cristina Kirchner, whose country is embroiled in a World Trade Organization dispute with the EU and the US, urged Mercosur to negotiate with Europe "as an equal".

She accused the Europeans of hypocrisy for alleging Argentine protectionism while they themselves, she said, have been practicing it for decades.

The Brasilia summit marks the end of Brazil's Mercosur presidency, which will pass to Uruguay for the next sixth months.